Monday, December 10, 2007

India tiger dies in road accident

A tiger has died in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after it was hit by vehicles while crossing a road.

The animal lay unattended by the roadside for 36 hours after being hit by vehicles in Bahraich district before being taken away for treatment.

Forest officials told the BBC that the 10-year-old animal was roaming in the local jungles before crossing the road.

They say that it is unusual for a tiger to be run over, even though other animals are often hit by vehicles.

A zoo official in Uttar Pradesh capital, Lucknow, said doctors could not save the animal on Wednesday after it was brought to the local zoo with "serious internal injuries."

The BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi in Lucknow says that the forest area - from where the tiger came out - is shrinking because of felling of trees and expansion of sugarcane farming.

A railway track and busy roads pass through the forests endangering the animals living there.A recent study found that the number of tigers in India had fallen to under 1,500 provoking the government to create a tiger protection force.

India's last major survey in 2002 put tiger numbers at 3,642.

Wildlife activists blame poaching and urbanisation for the decline and say the authorities must do more.